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The front parlor of the Petersen House is restored to its appearance on the night of April 14-15, 1865. The house is operated by the National Park Service and is open to the public. Mary Todd Lincoln spent most of the night in the front parlor of the Petersen rooming house, sporadically going to the room where Lincoln was, but each time overcome by emotion. She was comforted by Laura Keene, the actress who was in the play at Ford’s Theater tha...
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The front parlor of the Petersen House is restored to its appearance on the night of April 14-15, 1865. The house is operated by the National Park Service and is open to the public. Mary Todd Lincoln spent most of the night in the front parlor of the Petersen rooming house, sporadically going to the room where Lincoln was, but each time overcome by emotion. She was comforted by Laura Keene, the actress who was in the play at Ford’s Theater that evening and by Clara Harris, the fiancé of Major Rathbone, who had attended the play with the Lincolns. The President’s older son, Robert, came to the Petersen House. The younger son, Tad, who had been attending a play at another theater with his tutor, was returned to the White House. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton took over the back parlor of the Petersen House, where he directed investigation of the crime. Antebellum Society and the Civil War. 14 Political systems; 16 History.
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